WJRO represents world Jewry in pursuing claims for the recovery of Jewish properties in Europe (outside of Germany and Austria). WJRO was established by leading world Jewish organizations to address the restitution of Jewish property and to remind the world that the time has come to redress the enormous material wrongs caused to European Jewry during the Holocaust.

Call to Action

A Call to Action

Justice for Holocaust Survivors

I am asking you to take a simple step to help the effort to correct a historic wrong. I have fought for 20 years for the return of property taken by the Nazis from their Jewish victims, including from my wife’s family.

I have pressed government officials in Poland – and around the globe – on behalf of Holocaust survivors, and spoken at countless meetings to tell the world our story.

Now, I am in my 80s. Until the day I die, I will not give up. Every day, the few remaining Holocaust survivors are passing away. Sadly, many of these survivors will die in poverty, without benefiting from their property. Our struggle for justice cannot die with us.

This Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), as the world remembers the Holocaust, I ask that the generations of those born after the Holocaust commit to continue the struggle that our generation started. Future generations need to continue efforts to recover what the Nazis, their allies and collaborators, as well as subsequent Communist governments, unjustly took from us and our families and from Jewish communities.

The community of nations has taken some measures toward recognizing the need for justice. In 2009, 47 countries endorsed the Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues. In doing so, these countries called for a fair and speedy process to file claims and receive restitution or compensation for our property, as well as for properties that belonged to the devastated Jewish communities. The Terezin Declaration also recognizes the governments’ responsibility to care for needy Holocaust survivors, and to provide restitution of heirless property in order to fund this assistance, as well as Holocaust commemoration and education.

Together with the World Jewish Restitution Organization, I ask you to help in this struggle for justice and accept this Call to Action by signing this petition to the heads of government of the 47 nations that endorsed the Terezin Declaration.

CALL TO ACTION

RESPONSE AND PETITION

I accept the Call to Action to pursue justice for Holocaust survivors, their families and Jewish communities, whose property was wrongfully taken from them during and after the Holocaust, by signing the following message to the heads of state of the 47 countries that endorsed the Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues in 2009:

As the population of Holocaust survivors diminishes, I ask your government to ensure justice for Holocaust survivors, their families, and for Jewish communities, whose property was wrongfully taken from them by the Nazis and their allies and by subsequent Communist governments.